First
Annual 1999 Accomplishments Report

1999
Accomplishments Report

First Annual Edition
EPA 742-R-00-003
July 2000

Introduction

In continuing its mission of protecting human health and the environment,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Persistent,
Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) Pollutants Initiative in November
1998. The PBT Initiative is an integrated approach for addressing widespread
problems associated with toxic chemicals that persist and bioaccumulate
in the environment. This Report will demonstrate the Agencys PBT
commitment by summarizing accomplishments made in the areas of "Actions,"
"Policy," and "Science" in 1999. The report strives
for a balance between accounting for progress on integrating the Agencys
various PBT activities and illustrating how this process of increasing
integration produces better results.

Pollutants such as mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and some
pesticides have persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic characteristics
and pose significant health and environmental concerns. Challenges in
controlling pollutants with these characteristics result from their ability
to transfer rather easily among air, water, and land, and to travel long
distances. Once ingested by fish, birds, or mammals, many of these substances
bioaccumulate, leading to body burdens far in excess of levels found in
the environment.

With frequent exposure over time, the amount
present in organisms tissues can build up and cause toxic effects.
In humans, effects include nervous system abnormalities, reproductive
and developmental problems, cancer, and genetic impacts. Young children
and developing fetuses are especially at high risk.

Over the years, a substantial amount of work has been done by federal
and state regulatory agencies, industry, environmental and public health
groups, and the scientific community to reduce the risk associated with
these pollutants. However, the following examples illustrate the current
imperative to continue to take action. Studies have been conducted worldwide
to understand more fully the impacts of PBTs on human health and the environment.
We have chosen to summarize some of these major findings in two large
geographic areas.

Most PBT pollutant releases occur between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic
of Cancer where the majority of industrialized nations are located. In
this area, known as the North Temperate Zone, the general population
has detectable levels of dioxin in their bodies as a result of eating
contaminated meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products. EPAs draft dioxin
reassessment (1994) estimated cancer risk to the U.S. population from
this background exposure to be in the 1:10,000 to 1:1,000 range. Dioxin
exposure is approaching levels associated with adverse non-cancer effects
(NHANES). Also, about 25 percent of children and nine percent of the general
U.S. population are exposed to a level of methylmercury that exceeds the
current EPA Reference Dose. Those who rely on fish as a main source of
food have even higher PBT body burden levels. U.S. tribes tell the EPA
that contamination of subsistence foods is their main concern.

In the Arctic Zone, located north of the Arctic Circle and centered
on the North Pole, PBTs are present due to long-range transport from industrialized
nations and exposure of migrating species. PBT levels are substantial
in the Arctic Zone and PBTs persist longer there because of the low temperatures.
Levels of PBTs are expected to rise in the Arctic due to increased local
and southeast Asian industrialization. Global distillation alone means
decades more of PBT pollutants entering this area (Bard 1999).

For many Arctic tribes, PBT contamination of subsistence foods
is linked to their long term survival. PBT exposures are aggravated by
the fact that high-food-chain meats are their major source of protein.
Extensive recent Canadian research suggests Alaskan wildlife has high
PBT levels. If confirmed, most animal protein sources are in question.
Often, for many of these populations there is no alternative but to eat
contaminated food. (Alaskan and Arctic Fish and Wildlife database, 1998
AMAP)

Some marine mammal and bird populations are experiencing disease,
reproductive problems, and population declines, probably in whole or in
part due to contamination from PBT pollutants. A review on harbour porpoises
indicates that levels of organochlorines, especially PCBs, are high enough
to cause concern about maintaining the population (Aguilar and Bornell
1995). Free-ranging orca whales along the Pacific Northwest coast have
PCB levels four to five times higher than highly-PCB-polluted St. Lawrence
beluga whales, who themselves have serious health problems. Canadian Arctic
whales are providing the first statistical inference that PBT (specifically,
PCB) levels in Arctic species relate to subtle health effects. (Lockhart
1995, AMAP 1998). A 1998 study by the International Whaling Commission
determined levels of contamination among some marine mammals are so high
that the animals would be classified as hazardous waste sites if they
were on land.

Integrating PBT Efforts at EPA: Action, Policy and
Science

Like other environmental departments around the world, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has learned, little by little over time, that
the impacts of PBT contamination have not been, and could not have been,
entirely addressed by single-medium approaches or by a singularly domestic
approach. Addressing PBT contamination requires a perspective that cuts
across environmental media and geographic boundaries. Therefore, EPA continues
to stay the course announced in its November 1998 draft PBT Strategy:
that of taking an increasingly holistic and integrated approach to addressing
PBT contamination.

EPAs PBT effort will be accomplished by using all of the tools
available to the Agency -- regulatory, compliance, enforcement, research,
voluntary actions, and international negotiations. The effort also stresses
a preventive approach, but recognizes that in some situations, treatment
and remediation will also be required.

EPAs commitment to addressing PBT contamination implies a dual
obligation: (1) to account for the many significant areas of Agency activity
that are being integrated or need to be integrated, and (2) to clarify
how this process of increasing integration produces better results. In
numerous instances, EPA began integrating certain PBT activities several
years ago. The increasingly larger scale on which this is being attempted
presents a constant challenge to the Agency.

Being the first year of the Initiative, many of the activities in this
Report are new and/or ongoing and so have not yet produced formal, quantifiable
results. However, these planning, integration, and development efforts
have been included in order to recognize their value to the Initiative
in 1999 and beyond. Future editions of the Report will undoubtedly have
a greater emphasis on outcomes. It is also important to note, that this
Report does not attempt to capture each and every accomplishment made
by the Agency and its Regions with regard to PBT pollutants. Rather, it
is our hope that the following accomplishments demonstrate that the PBT
Initiative is making great strides in further integrating the Agencys
efforts -- a new way of doing business.

The draft Multimedia Strategy for Priority PBT Pollutants, published
by EPA in November 1998 (abbreviated as "the PBT Strategy"),
describes how the Agency plans to reduce PBTs in the nation by integrating
and coordinating its PBT activities. In functional terms, "PBT
Strategy" can be used interchangeably with "PBT Initiative."

Building on a Strong Foundation of Existing Agency
Programs and Activities

The PBT Initiative reinforces and builds on a long-standing EPA
commitment over a 25 year period to control, remediate and prevent
releases of PBTs. Many of these activities stem from the Agencys
major media-specific authorities. Others stem from recognition that
media-specific activities alone cannot fully address this critical
problem. Current programs and activities include, but are not limited
to, the following:

Other International agreements, involving both the Office of
International Activities (OIA) and OPPTS, such as the Northern
American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and continuing
negotiations on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
[http://www.epa.gov/international/index.html]

Actions

This section highlights the major activities the Agency implemented in
1999 to address PBTs and to reduce their production, use, and releases
nationwide. Given EPAs mission, the Agencys work tends to
fall into certain categories -- activities focused on a single chemical
or cluster of chemicals (chemical-based), those focused on a geographic
area (place-based), and activities focused on an industrial or commercial
sector (sector-based) -- reflecting the Agencys interest in contaminants
or other environmental stressors and its relationship with the public.
Accordingly, this Report discusses actions in all three categories. Monitoring
of PBTs is addressed in a separate category, since it affects and supports
the other three.

Chemical-Based Actions

Lower PBT Reporting Thresholds Finalized under the Toxics Release Inventory
(TRI). On October 29, 1999 EPA published a final rule that added seven
chemicals and two chemical compound categories to the list of chemicals
subject to reporting under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community
Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention
Act of 1990 (PPA).

Additionally, TRI reporting
thresholds were lowered for 18 PBT chemicals and chemical categories.
The rule also included a special, lower, reporting threshold of 0.1
grams for dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, and modified certain reporting
exemptions and requirements for chemicals newly subject to lower reporting
thresholds. This rule will give people more information about PBT
releases in their communities.

Reviewing Chemical Pre-manufacturing Notices under the new TSCA PBT
Policy. As of November 1999, the Agency began screening the pre-manufacturing
data on new chemicals that industry submits to EPA for evidence of PBT
chemical characteristics. This additional level of screening -- conducted
pursuant to EPAs new Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Policy
Statement described on page nine of this Report-- resulted in EPA identifying
36 new chemicals as potential PBTs and issuing consent orders on 13 of
these substances. Permissible control actions range from banning production
to prohibiting certain uses and releases, pending development of further
data.

Developing a Publicly-Available PBT Screening Tool. Since 1997,
EPA has been working on a screening tool that companies could use to evaluate
the PBT characteristics of chemicals they may make or use for one purpose
or another. This amounts to EPA publicly sharing its tools for analyzing
chemical properties based on chemical structure, so industry can choose
chemicals at the process design stage that are more benign. During 1999,
EPA beta-tested this "PBT Profiler" tool with several corporations
and received very positive feedback.

Collecting, Labeling, and Legislating on Mercury-in-Products.
Under the PBTI, EPA awarded a 1999 grant to the Northeast Waste Management
Officials Association (NEWMOA) to report on state efforts to collect
mercury-containing products for disposal (to prevent unintentional releases),
to launch or implement mercury-labeling programs, and to draft mercury-in-products
legislation. EPA Region I also worked on developing case studies at federal
facilities for identifying mercury containing-products.

Rewarding Lower-Risk Chemical
Alternatives to PBTs. In 1999, EPA presented a Presidential Green
Chemistry Challenge Award to Dow AgroSciences LLC for a new natural
insect control product. This award recognizes outstanding chemical
technologies that incorporate more environmentally-friendly principles
into chemical design, manufacture, and use. Called Spinosad, Dows
product does not leach, volatilize, bioaccumulate, or persist in the
environment.

Reducing Mercury Emissions from Municipal and Medical Waste. Municipal
Waste Combustors (MWC) and Medical Waste Incinerators (MWI) accounted
for approximately 30 percent of the nations mercury emissions into
the air in 1994. The EPA established Maximum Achievable Control Technology
(MACT) rules for large MWCs in 1995 and for MWIs in 1997. These rules,
when fully implemented, should reduce mercury emissions from these sources
by at least 90 percent and will result in more than a 95-percent reduction
in dioxin/furan emissions. Facilities must be in compliance with the rules
for large MWCs by December 2000 and for MWIs by September 2002. By the
end of 1999, control retrofits were either completed or underway at all
large MWCs. On August 30, 1999, EPA proposed rules to control small MWCs,
and expects to finalize them in 2000.

Re-evaluating RCRA Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) for Mercury-Bearing
Hazardous Wastes. Existing LDR treatment standards applicable to mercury-bearing
wastes require recovery and recycling of mercury or incineration, depending
on the waste stream. On May 28, 1999, EPA published an Advance Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to mark the beginning of its comprehensive
reevaluation of these treatment standards, and to note associated issues,
options, and data needs. EPA is evaluating: (1) the effect of reducing
the number of waste types to be incinerated; (2) the environmental advantages
of allowing direct treatment for disposal where secondary production exceeds
demand; (3) whether thermal recovery is being required for wastes where
this treatment is inappropriate; (4) mercury retorting emissions; and,
(5) incentives for reducing mercury in hazardous waste. The ANPRM comment
period ended in August 1999. In 2000, EPA anticipates reviewing public
comment and examining treatability studies conducted by EPA and the U.S.
Department of Energy.

Minimizing Open Barrel Burning to Reduce Dioxin Emissions. According
to recent EPA studies, burning household trash in backyard barrels is
a significant source of dioxin/furan emissions. Through the PBTI, EPA
awarded a 1999 grant to the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District to
work collaboratively on a regional basis to help communities reduce garbage
burning. Upon completion, the information can be shared nationwide. Under
another EPA grant, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is developing
and delivering to schools a curriculum on alternatives to open burning.
Agency surveys indicate an estimated 20 million people in rural areas
burn trash in their backyards.

Collecting Pesticides through State Clean Sweep Programs. Nearly
half of the states operate "Clean Sweep" programs to help farmers
and, in some cases, citizens and businesses, dispose of waste pesticides.
In addition, many local governments conduct household hazardous waste
collection programs to facilitate the disposal of unwanted chemicals,
including pesticides. Some of the PBT chemicals removed through Clean
Sweep programs include pesticides like aldrin, dieldrin, DDT, chlordane,
and products containing mercury.

In 1999, EPA provided incremental
funding to four existing Clean Sweep programs for pilot projects
to facilitate the collection of data on the quantities of specific
pesticides collected. Using this information, EPA is currently
preparing a report on the status and success of Clean Sweep programs
nationwide and will promote these programs by publicizing their
success and providing information on the many different ways to
start, operate, and fund them.

Reducing PBT Waste Generation. EPA awarded several 1999 grants to research
and promote PBT waste generation reductions. North Carolina, for example,
is focusing on the identification of PBT generators and training state
hazardous waste program staff on PBT reduction techniques and OSWs
Waste Minimization Prioritization Tool (WMPT).

Sector Based Actions

Partnering with Industrial Boilers. EPA issued a grant under the
PBTI to the Delta Institute to develop a partnership with the Council
of Industrial Boiler Owners. The Institute will then work with one or
several of the industries to develop ways to boost energy efficiency and
cut toxic chemical use and discharge. This effort is a collaboration with
the Department of Energy. The critical substances targeted include mercury,
cadmium, PCBs, dioxins/furans and hexachlorobenzene.

Air Data Collection/Analysis at Electric Utilities. In 1999, EPA
began collecting information to better understand mercury emissions from
coal-fired, electric power plants. This collection effort includes data
from coal sampling as well as stack tests. EPA intends to complete the
information collection by Summer 2000, and will then begin analysis to
determine the amount and species of mercury emissions from these plants.

Phasing Down PCBs in Great Lakes Utilities. In 1999, representatives
of EPA Region 5, and EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
met with the region's major utilities to discuss the PCB Phasedown Program,
currently a pilot project with utilities in Region 5. It provides an incentive
for facilities to commit to removing their remaining PCB equipment, including
public recognition and consideration of PCB removal efforts during settlement
of enforcement actions. Utilities in the region are making efforts to
phasedown PCB transformers and capacitors.

Partnering with Steel Facilities. In 1998, under the Binational
Toxics Strategy, three Indiana steel facilities -- Bethlehem Steel Burns
Harbor, Ispat Inland Inc. Indiana Harbor Works, and U.S. Steel Gary Works
-- signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with EPA to reduce the use
of mercury at their facilities through pollution prevention. The PBTI
was instrumental in implementing this MOU. In 1999, as a part of this
agreement, the companies developed an inventory of mercury sources and
are now working on a reduction strategy. The expectation is that lessons
learned there can be shared with others in the industry.

Working with the Chlor-alkali Sector. In 1998, the Agency received
a commitment from the Chlor-alkali sector of the chemical industry to
cut mercury use 50 percent by 2005. On August 31, 1999, EPAs Region
5 met with representatives of industry, government, and academia to plan
a Mercury Emissions Study at an Olin Chlor-alkali Facility in Georgia.
The Region 5 study will also identify methods for reducing mercury emissions
at other chlor-alkali facilities.

Partnering with Hospitals. On June 24, 1998, the American Hospital
Association (AHA) and the EPA, in consultation with Healthcare Without
Harm, a group representing 80 non-governmental organizations, reached
a landmark agreement with the goal of virtually eliminating mercury-containing
waste from hospital waste streams by the year 2005. In 1999, EPA launched
a formal program, founded on this agreement and facilitated by the PBTI,
called Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E).

In March 1999, the H2E program
received Vice President Gores Hammer Award for excellence in
government innovation. This partnership expects to complete the drafting
of educational material by Summer 2000 and begin implementing educational
courses on waste reduction later in the year.

Awarding Grants to Assist Health Care Facilities. An EPA Environmental
Justice for Pollution Prevention grant to the St. Clair County Health
Department will promote pollution prevention in health care facilities
in the East St. Louis area and surrounding communities, with an emphasis
on eliminating mercury-containing products and waste streams. The St.
Clair County Health Department will establish a model facility, disseminate
information to promote mercury reduction, assist facilities with mercury
reduction and pollution prevention practices, develop case studies of
successful programs at healthcare facilities, and encourage the development
of pollution prevention and waste minimization plans.

Many states, including New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, and California,
have also been focusing on reducing mercury and other toxics in hospital
waste streams with EPA funding. Activities include on-site assessments
of participating hospitals and developing and implementing training curricula,
checklists, case studies, and outreach materials for hospital staff.

Significant Reductions Achieved Through Compliance/Enforcement Efforts.
Continuing federal compliance/enforcement efforts for major regulations
addressing PBTs, along with on-going support to states, has yielded PBT
reductions via increased compliance and deterrence of violations. Case
settlements and Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in 1999 have
resulted in additional reductions of: 129 million pounds of PCB waste;
573 million pounds of soil contaminated with dioxin/lead/arsenic; and
four million pounds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Place-Based Actions

Mixing Zone Guidance for the Great Lakes. On September 24, 1999,
EPA Administrator Carol Browner proposed to phase-out the discharges of
"bioaccumulative chemicals of concern" (BCCs, another term for
PBTs) into "mixing zones"(areas of the Great Lakes where discharges
of toxic chemicals are allowed to mix with receiving waters and dilute).
New discharges of BCCs, including mercury, PCBs, dioxin, chlordane, DDT,
and mirex, would be prohibited and phased-out over the next 10 years.

Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota,
and Wisconsin have already eliminated mixing zones for PBTs in the
Great Lakes Basin. Browners proposal would ensure that mixing
zones for BCCs in the Great Lakes Basin are also prohibited in Illinois,
New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. EPA anticipates that the proposal
will reduce mercury from direct water discharges (like outfall pipes)
into the Great Lakes by up to 90 percent.

Phasing Out DDT in Mexico. Transboundary air deposition of DDT
in the United States and Canada coming in from Mexico has been an issue
of concern for several years. In 1999, Mexico stopped using DDT altogether,
reserving only the limited right to use DDT in severe malaria control
emergencies. The efforts of the three countries, through the North American
Commission on Environmental Cooperation, are now evolving toward developing
sustainable malaria control practices for Mexico. Then, Mexico can share
its results with other Central American countries.

Phasing-out of PCBs in Russia. In March 1999, the eight Arctic
countries (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation,
Sweden, and the United States) commenced an initiative to expedite the
phase-out of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Russian Federation.
This initiative, proposed and organized by EPAs Office of International
Activities with funding from the PBTI, is expected to result in reducing
transboundary impacts on the Arctic environment. The initiative started
in 1999 with the development of a first-ever inventory of PCBs in Russia.
Once this inventory is completed in 2000 the initiative will commence
work on feasibility studies of possible PCB phase-out/conversion projects
in high priority sectors (e.g., electric utilities). Ultimately, the initiative
will undertake pilot demonstrations of PCB replacements in priority-use
sectors, as well as explore ways to further develop environmentally-sound
disposal practices in Russia. It is expected that this multilateral effort
will further encourage the Russian Federation to become a party to the
Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) Protocol
on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), as well as the UNEP POPs Convention
now under negotiation.

Monitoring

Developing a NARAP for Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. Pursuant
to a Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) council resolution
in June 1999, a North American Regional Action Plan (NARAP) on environmental
monitoring and assessment for priority chemicals is being developed. It
will likely focus on identifying a network of reference sites, with an
emphasis on atmospheric deposition, fate, transport and effects in receiving
ecosystems; and, addressing the human health dimension of exposure to
chemicals.

Assisting in the Development of Surveys. EPA contributes funds to Health
and Human Services (HHS) to develop National Health and Nutrition Examination
Surveys (NHANES) to analyze the U.S. population for various PBTs. In 1999,
EPA succeeded in having mercury added to the NHANES parameter list.

Conducting a Fish Tissue Survey.
In 1999, EPA began a long-term study, with funding from the PBTI,
on Chemical Residues in Fish. The study, organized and managed by
the Office of Water, will provide information on fish tissue levels
of toxic bioaccumulative contaminants in lakes throughout the contiguous
U.S.

The Agency consulted with states, tribes, other federal agencies, and
the PBTI Plenary Group to design the survey and to select the PBT chemicals
for analysis. By providing for collection of samples through grants, this
study will also enhance state and tribal data monitoring capabilities.
EPA will make data available to states, tribes, and Agency programs to
help them evaluate, prioritize, and target pollution prevention, abatement,
remediation, and control efforts. The data will highlight specific PBTs
that need to be addressed and the locations of contaminants.

Monitoring Fetal Cord Blood. In 1999, EPAs OIA and the Office
of Children's Health, in coordination with the Center for Disease Control
and a variety of other partners, launched a project to monitor the umbilical
cord blood and maternal blood of indigenous coastal Alaska groups.

The program, which focuses on
blood levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including PCB
congeners, was developed in response to Alaska native concerns about
the effects of contaminants accumulating in subsistence foods in the
Arctic. It is OIAs hope to collaborate with other Arctic nations
in extending this effort to other native groups in the eastern seaboard
of Russia and elsewhere. These findings will be a valuable complement
to NHANES and other indicators of the eventual results of PBT control
actions undertaken by EPA and its partners.

Florida Everglades Long-Range Transport. In 1999, EPAs OIA
and Office of Research and Development (ORD) began planning mercury monitoring
efforts in the Florida Everglades. At present, there is controversy about
whether local sources of mercury predominate or whether large amounts
of mercury may be carried via trade winds from Africa and Europe. In 1999,
mercury speciation equipment was purchased and installed. By the end of
2000, EPA expects to report on the initial results of aircraft flight
monitoring and ground sampling. This study will provide the first reliable
data on the amount and origin of sources of long-range transport of mercury
in South Florida.

Barrow, Alaska Long-Range Transport and Arctic Sunrise Evaluation.
In September 1999, EPAs OIA and ORD began to set into place and
to test the first speciated mercury analytical equipment at the NOAA/ORD
Point Barrow, Alaska atmospheric mercury monitoring station. Speciated
mercury analysis will enable EPA and its partners, the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Energy, and Canada,
to better understand the unique behavior and transport of atmospheric
mercury under Arctic conditions. This is the first time speciated mercury
measurements have been made in the U.S. Arctic. In particular, EPA will
obtain data to help determine the potential for long-range transport of
mercury to that location from, for example, Asia or Russia. Additionally,
EPA will gain the data necessary to understand the processes associated
with the Arctic Sunrise phenomenon. This is a newly discovered atmospheric
mercury depletion event in early Spring, where mercury leaves the vapor
phase and is thought to enter a particulate phase whence it can be deposited
and perhaps more readily enter the food chain.

Supporting Monitoring Efforts in Maine. In 1999, EPAs Office
of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance funded a grant under the PBTI
to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to reduce PBTs in
the state. Highlights of this project include multimedia data collection
and analysis in partnership with the University of Maine to benchmark
monitoring efforts, sector-based analysis of mercury sources and targeted
on-site multimedia compliance and pollution-prevention efforts. Appropriate
enforcement responses will also be incorporated to bring entities into
compliance when assistance efforts are inappropriate.

Policy

This section identifies policies, strategies or procedures intended to
guide the Agencys thinking about how PBTs should be viewed and encourages
the integration of PBTs throughout new and existing EPA programs.

Preventing the Introduction of New PBT Chemicals. One of the first
steps the Agency took under the PBT Initiative was to exercise its authority
under the TSCA to prevent additional PBTs from entering commerce. In November
1999, EPA issued a policy statement under TSCA establishing a category
for new persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) substances. This
policy statement defined PBTs and stated that EPA will require additional
testing and review of chemical substances that fall under this definition.
Action taken under this policy is reported under "Actions,"
on page five.

The Agency also took the first steps to establish a similar policy under
the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) that will
strengthen EPAs screening policies for pesticides submitted for
registration. Screening efforts for pesticides are continuing in 2000.

Setting Agency PBT Priorities. In 1999, EPA advanced work on its
PBT Strategy and corresponding PBT Initiative. The Agency made a consistent
effort in 1999 to tackle some of the challenging issues raised in public
comment, working across programs on priority-setting and milestones via
the EPA Office Directors Multimedia and Pollution Prevention (M2P2)
Forum, representing about 15 Agency national program offices and Agency
regions.

The M2P2 Forums initial
efforts will be expressed, in Fall 2000, in the revised PBT Strategy,
draft national action plans, the revised mercury Action Plan, and
a five-year PBT Initiative internal planning document. EPAs
OSW will also publish a revised multimedia list of PBT chemicals beyond
those addressed in National Action Plans to encourage voluntary reductions
in PBT chemical releases.

Interim PBT Goal. While the PBTI has a long-term goal of further
reducing risk to human health and the environment from existing and future
exposure to priority PBT pollutants, the Agency recognized internally,
in 1999, that working with certain populations on contaminated food concerns
is an important interim goal. Indeed, even if all PBT releases ceased
worldwide today, existing PBT contamination and the continuing global
distribution of these contaminants would present subsistence food concerns
for years to come.

Aligning PBT Monitoring and Measurement Programs. As a result
of PBTI integration efforts, the Agency took note at the end of 1999 of
the wide perception among federal, state, and international agencies and
organizations that a network of monitoring efforts on PBTs is needed,
and that no single organization or agency has the funds to pay for these
efforts. As a matter of policy, EPA is exploring in 2000 how the Agency
might work with other governmental entities on connecting and leveraging
efforts to accelerate PBT monitoring. See the "Actions" section
of this report for the specific monitoring activities that took place
in 1999.

Revising the Draft Mercury Action Plan. Based on public comments
received on the draft Mercury Action Plan, the Agency spent much of 1999
prioritizing its activities on mercury. This effort will be reflected
in the Final Mercury Action Plan to be released in Fall 2000.

Drafting National Action Plans. As indicated in the PBT Strategy,
EPA is committed to developing National Action Plans for 12 priority PBTs.
In 1999, the Agency began work on all action plans with active participation
from both industry and environmental groups. Dioxin work focused on wrapping
up the Agency Dioxin Reassessment. Agency-wide PBTI chemical-specific
workgroups worked on these action plans in close coordination with the
parallel chemical-specific workgroups supporting U.S. and Canadian implementation
of the Binational Toxics Strategy (BNS), which focuses on the same pollutants.

The preliminary stakeholder review of the initial alkyl-lead, octachlorostyrene,
pesticides (aldrin/ dieldrin, DDT, mirex, toxaphene, hexachlorobenzene,
and chlordane) and PCB draft plans provided valuable comments, and the
Agency will again use preliminary stakeholder review in 2000 for the remaining
draft action plans. The Agency plans to release all draft action plans
for full public comment in late Summer/Fall 2000.

Cross-Cutting Issues from Action Plans. At the very close of 1999,
EPA flagged several issues that the Agency could consider on a cross-cutting
basis, rather than action plan by action plan. These areas are: (1) looking
at collective monitoring needs for multiple PBTs, (2)communicating with
subpopulations concerned about or that need to be informed about contaminated
subsistence foods, and (3) focusing on "place-based" actions.

Science

An important part of many EPA programs is to continually evaluate emerging
scientific data on changes in the environment and analyze their implications
for existing EPA policies and actions. These data show that the extent
and longevity of PBT pollutants, with their corresponding impact on human
and wildlife populations, makes this contamination a global environmental
problem of continuing urgency.

In 1999, Agency efforts to better integrate its PBT work were demonstrated
in several areas of scientific activity. This section identifies activities
throughout the Agency that promote scientific research, the development
of tools to identify, detect, monitor and measure PBTs as well as opportunities
to foster the exchange of emerging scientific information on PBTs.

Selecting Additional Priority PBTs. In 1999, the Agency developed
an integrated approach for selecting priority PBTs for purposes of the
Waste Minimization National Plan and the PBT Initiative overall. The approach
reflects consistent use of scientific information and PBT evaluation criteria
by all of EPAs program offices. The results of these integrated
efforts will be published in Fall 2000.

Mercury Research Strategy. In 1999, led by the Office of Research
and Development (ORD), EPA drafted a strategy to help guide its mercury
research program for the coming five years (20002004). The Mercury
Research Strategy targets four areas for attention: human health effects
and exposure; ecological health effects and exposure; atmospheric, terrestrial,
and aquatic transport, transformation, and fate; and risk management for
combustion and non-combustion sources. The draft Mercury Research Strategy
was submitted for peer review in early 2000 and is targeted for publication
by the end of the year. A multi-year implementation plan is scheduled
for delivery in early 2001.

Risk Characterization of and Risk Communication on Environmental Change
and Subsistence Foods in Alaska. Over the past few years, EPAs
Office of Radiation and Indoor Air and EPA Region 10 have funded the Traditional
Knowledge and Radionuclides Project, aimed at sharing native knowledge
on environmental change in Alaska. The range of contaminants began with
radionuclides but broadened, at native peoples request, to include
PBTs. During this project, EPA became receptive to an alternative way
of understanding and communicating risk. In 1999, regional meetings and
meetings with EPA scientists were held to share native knowledge on environmental
change and to review current research and priorities. These efforts resulted
in a Progress Report that tells of significant changes going on in the
dynamics of the Alaskan food chain. Find the report at: http://www.nativeknowledge.org/db/explain/progreport.PDF.

PBTI integration efforts resulted in additional funding from EPA Region
10 to the Alaskan Sea Otter and Sea Lion Commission (representing about
50 tribes) to develop a PBT screening tool for subsistence foods. Specifically,
the program will develop methods for identifying abnormalities in subsistence
food species and the contaminants within them, the tissues consumed by
native populations, methods of food preparation, and those human populations
at greatest risk. The program will result in a resource guide to be used
by the tribes for measuring contaminants in native foods. EPA will spread
this knowledge on Alaskan PBT-related issues to other tribal nations.

ACS PBT Symposium. In support of the PBTI effort, EPAs Office
of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) organized a symposium entitled
"Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Chemicals," as part
of the Spring 1999 national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS)
in Anaheim, CA. The 47 oral presentations and 14 papers were contributed
by 212 authors and co-authors from 12 countries. EPAs PBT Strategy
was presented in a session on hazard assessment. OPPT also led the development
of two ACS monographs derived from the symposium, including additional
commissioned chapters. These will be published in October 2000, with worldwide
distribution by Oxford University Press.

2000 Outlook

The PBT Initiative will continue in its role to integrate the various
PBT activities and to improve stakeholder involvement in the process.
Specifically, in 2000, the PBTI expects to accomplish the following:

This publication was developed by a cross-Agency PBT Plenary
Group, comprising experts from the following EPA Program Offices:
Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (chair); Office
of Air and Radiation; Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance;
Office of International Activities; Office of Research and Development;
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response; Office of Water; Office
of Policy, Economics and Innovation; the Great Lakes National Program
Office; and the ten EPA Regions. The key decision-making body of
the PBTI is the Multimedia Pollution Prevention (M2P2) Forum, comprising
Office Directors from all Agency programs and regions.